


a ball

by allp_wips



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-06-02 05:13:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19434649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allp_wips/pseuds/allp_wips
Summary: Alex is hired by Maxwell Lord, a technological tycoon, to investigate the CEO of In-Ze Enterprises, with whom Alex has a complicated relationship.





	a ball

"Ok," Alex whispers to her fellow detective, as they wait in line in the long queue of partygoers lining up to be admitted into the In-Ze residence. "Remember your mission. We go in, we try to attract as little attention as possible, we snoop around the place, and then we get out."

"I know the plan, Danvers." Lucy Lane - her partner at the J'onzz Detective Agency for five years now - is smirking as she replies. "I'm not planning on getting distracted. How about you focus on not getting caught by your girlfriend?"

Alex tells herself she's not blushing. It's just that the 3-piece suit she'd worn to disguise herself is too hot, that's all. "Astra is not my girlfriend!"

Lucy raises her eyebrows. "Sure. And I definitely didn't make out with Alura in the garden, the last time we were sent to investigate this place."

"Keep your voice down," Alex hisses. 

She looks around, but no one is listening. The other groups of attendees to the annual Climate Benefit Ball hosted by In-Ze Enterprises are all engrossed in their own conversing cliques.

"Relax." Lucy adjusts her theatrical monocle, and pushes up her dress. "Whatever those two are up to, we'll find out. This is going to go fine."

\---

"This is not going fine," Alex mutters into her drink, as she surveys the rest of the banquet, while skulking around the bar. 

As soon as they'd gotten in, Lucy had almost immediately ditched her in favour of accosting Alura, one half of the ownership team of In-Ze Enterprises. 

"She's the head of their Legal, and I have a JD," Lucy had whispered to her. "Whatever she has to hide, I'll wheedle it out of her. Legal talk, you know the drill."

_ Legal talk, my ass. _ It was true that Lucy managed to root out a lot of intel through... creative methods of information gathering, but Alex is pretty sure that her following Alura around like a lost puppy isn't simply about doing her job. The fact that Alura seems to gravitate to Lucy in a similar way, only makes it marginally less worse, in her opinion.

Maxwell Lord is probably not going to be happy to find that, of the two star detectives he has on retainer at J'onnz Detective Agency, one is a hairbreadth away from sleeping with Alura, and the other is... well, Alex doesn't even know what the hell is going on between her and Astra.

She isn't even sure why Max has hired them to keep tabs on In-Ze Enterprises in the first place. The man has given some hints that the corporation might have something of his. As far as Alex can see, she can't figure out what it is. The In-Ze sisters' company seems to be entirely focused on developing technology to stymie or reverse climate change, whereas Lord Technologies is focused enitrely on driving autotomive technology forward. Alex hasn't figured out the connection, but Lord's generous retainer fee means that she keeps trying

She's glancing furtively in the direction of the large doors that lead outside of the banquet hall, judging her chances of getting out of there and scouring the rest of the In-Ze estate for evidence, when a voice speaks behind Alex.

"Imagine seeing you here, Agent Danvers."

\---

"Imagine seeing you here, Agent Danvers."

Alex freezes. She can feel her face flush atutomatically, as she turns around to face the speaker.

"Excuse me, m'am, I don't know what you mea-"

Astra In-Ze, CEO of In-Ze Enterprises, extends a single finger out towards Alex's face, so that it caresses the edge of the false moustache adorning her upper lip. Alex holds her breath.

"A little obvious, don't you think?" Astra asks. "One might think you wanted to be found out."

"I don't know what you mean," Alex manages to finish this time, and more smoothly than she feels, considering how fast her heart is hammering.

Astra raises her eyebrows, but thankfuly removes the questing finger away. Alex finds herself able to breathe again, while feeling disappointed by the lack of the contact at the same time.

"I'm sure you don't," Astra says. "Did Maxwell hire you to investigate me again?" 

She doesn't sound angry, mildly curious at best. Alex doesn't know exactly why Astra tolerate her and Lucy sniffing around the place so much, even if all of them at least keep up a facade that they don't know what each other is up to. Alex suspects it might have something to do with the fact that she had used to mentor Astra's niece at the FBI before she resigned, and had saved Kara's life in the line of fire more than a few times.

None of which changes the fact that Alex has a job to do, and Max happens to be the one paying the bills for that job. And, if he thinks there's something shady going on at In-Ze Enterprises, Alex is contract-bound to investigate it. How Astra looks at her, or the way she makes her heart beat faster just by standing next to her, can't change that basic fact.

Astra sighs, as if she's aware of the conflicted thoughts running through Alex's head, or maybe because she's having similar ones herself.

"I keep telling myself I should put an end to this, one of these days," she says. "And yet, I hesitate. You do know at this point I can hand you over to the actual police for sustained harassment?"

Alex stares at her, the strategic part of her mind knowing she shouldn't be running her mouth and playing into Astra's hand, while the rebellious part rankles at the idea of keeping silent and appearing to be cowed by her.

"You know there's one way to end this," she says. "Just give me whatever you took from Lord Technologies, and he'll leave you alone in peace."

Astra's lip curls. "What I took from him?"

Alex sighs. "Don't look so offended. Astra, we both know your company's got a reputation with just about every law agency in the country for doing things that just barely skirt legality."

Astra's expression turns from offended into condescending.

"Just because the laws of this country are draconian and aligned towards Wall Street's interests instead of towards enacting any public or ecological good doesn't mean-"

"I get it," Alex interrupts. It's an old argument, that they've run through many times before. "Doesn't change the reputation you have."

Astra purses her lips.

"Follow me," she says, turning around and stalking back through the very doors that Alex had been contemplating sneaking through.

\---

Astra leads her through a maze of hallways, before they arrive at an area of the building that looks less ornate and more workplace-like than the banquet hall that they had perviously exited.

"Where are we going?" Alex asks.

"I know you've already managed to get access to the research labs at our headquarters," Astra says. She smiles in amusement, when Alex hurriedly arranges her expression into a poker face. "Don't deny it, Agent Danvers. I don't know how you got past the security walls yet, but I do know that you did."

She continues speaking, while she presses against a part of the wall that looks no different from any other part of the wall.

"This, on the other hand, is my own personal research lab."

The wall that had seemed to be solid before, seems to split, leaving an opening just wide enough for one person to slip through. Alex follows Astra into the gloomy room behind, figuring she's already come this far, and Astra probably doesn't need to plan someting this elaborate just to murder her.

"I thought you just managed the company," she says, looking around the lab, which is smaller, messier and more cluttered than she'd been expecting.

Astra shrugs. "This is something that needed a personal touch, you could say."

With a look of supreme pride, she points to the one clean area in the room, where the clutter has been shoved all around it to leave room for a cubic metal frame of some kind. In the center of the frame, suspended in air by what seems to be some sort of magnetic anti-gravity rig, is-

"It's just a glowing ball," Alex says.

Astra looks mildly pained. "You have a doctorate from Stanford."

"The lectures didn't cover small glowing balls floating in midair, I'm afraid."

Astra reaches through the rigging, and pulls the sphere out to show Alex. Close up, Alex can see that it's made of metal, with slits in it. Through the slits emits a light so bright that it illuminates the veins in Astra's hand to an almost see-through luminescence.

"Our R&D department has named it the Omegahedron," Astra says. "I've only got one of it to work so far, and it's unstable. When I figure out how to stablilize it, though, just a single one of these can keep all of National City running on solar power."

Alex blinks. "What?"

"Imagine what it can do for the rest of the world," Astra continues.

Alex stares at the glowing sphere.

"But-" she says, mind stuttering, because there's so many scientific questions jumping to her tongue, whereas she really needs to be focusing on the job she has actually been hired to do. "Max- he said-"

"Lord Technologies has a longstanding contract with us, wherein they're allowed to make use of whatever our R&D department comes up with," Astra says. "This, however, was the only subject of research that was specifically excluded from the contract."

"Well, Max always wants what he can't have," Alex murmurs, thinking of the man's come-ons towards her more than once, despite the fact that Alex's gayness can be seen from space at this point.

Astra's face hardens, though Alex doesn't know if it is due to her comment, or the thought of the man himself.

"I'm aware," Astra says. "But, Max's ties to the military are too close, and the Omegahedron is too powerful to fall into the hands of any one nation. I plan to strictly control its usage... if we can even get it stabilized, that is. Max, of course, sees the exception clause as something he was cheated out of."

Alex, aware that she's been staring at the sphere as if hyponitzed, gives herself a vigorous shake of the head. 

"So that's what he meant, when he said you took something from him," she says. "This is what he wants."

"This is what he won't get," Astra spits out. For the first time, she looks truly angry, her jaw clenched. "This is not the sort of technology that should be patented and privatized as weapons for him and his cronies."

Alex lets out a sigh. "You're preaching to the choir, Astra. I've been part of that machine, remember?"

Without really thinking about it, she extends a hand out to the woman, laying it gently on her shoudler. By some miralce, Astra too seems to welcome it. The tension leaves her in a weightly exhale. 

"So have I," she admits. Then, she turns to Alex, and her intense gaze is even more hypnotizing than the sight of the Omegahedron. "What do you plan to do about this, now that you know?"

Alex swallows, and turns away from her, heading towards the exit, forcing Astra to follow her this time.

Astra doesn't let her exit, though, catching her by one arm, whirling her around, and pressing her against the wall. When Alex turns to face her, furious, Astra looks more vulnerable than she's ever seen her. One hand comes up to cup Alex's jaw, the thumb trailing against her chin. Alex swallows, her anger vanishing.

"Alex, please," Astra whispers.

"Don't," Alex says, her fists clenched against the wall.

Astra removes her hand, but doesn't step away. "Why not?"

"Because I have to talk to J'onn first, and then I need to inform Max that our retainer agreement with him is termiated," Alex says. "Just... hold on till then, ok?"

Astra's eyes soften.

"Alright."

Alex studies her, the overbright eyes and the soft blush on her cheeks, a stark contracst the furious woman from mere minutes again. in a quick move, alex stands on her tiptoes to press their lips together for a mere instant, before pulling back again.

"Seriously... wait for me, ok?"

Astra, eyes glazed and jaw slack, simply nods.

"Right," Alex says, aware that she herself must be blushing beet red, from how warm her cheeks feel. "Well, I should go."

She ducks under and over Astra's hand, presses the same spot in the wall that the woman had, and all but runs out of the room. She hurries out through the banquet hall - noticing absentmindedly that Lucy is dancing with Alura now - and back out through the front doors, not stopping until she's inside the privacy of her own car. She takes a deep breath and leans back against her seat, trying to sort out her thoughts and what she needs to do.

Tonight, she's going to have a long, tough talk with J'onn. He's probably going to be furious with her, for wanting to terminate their relationship with one of their best clients. It's not going to be an easy sell.

But, tomorrow, she's going to return to Astra and ask her out on a date, a proper one, no disguises and no sneaking around.

She thinks a tough sell or two is worth that.

\---


End file.
